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My Father was a Polish conscript, serving un the Wermacht from 1941 To 1945.he was initially serving with heavy Artillery as a Kanonier.
He served in Sothern Russia until wounded in 1942, for which he received the Schwartz medal, promoted to Gerfreiter, and served with Panzer Grenadiers, until returning to Germany in 1944, where he went to Stug school! And promotesd to Obergerfreiter. He became a Stug 3 driver and fought in the Battle of Bulge, until being captured by the Americans near Remargen in 1945.
He joined the Polish resettlement corps, part of the British army, along with many other Poles. For this time spent in the British armed forces, he received the 1939 to 45 medal! So a medal,on both sides !
Below are pictures, the first taken from his ' Soldbuch' in 1941, the other a picture which I am certain is him in 1942 in Southern Russia. But I cannot confirm this.
I hope this is of interest to someone.
W

Thanks for your posting since I find family wartime accounts such as this very intriguing, Your father was very lucky to have been transferred to the western front & surrender to the Yanks, otherwise we probably would not have had the pleasure of reading his fascinating story & family history,

My eldest brother was a B-24 pilot in the USAAF who, along with all but one of his crew, was lost 22 Dec 43 while returning from a bomb run over Münster. You can learn more of his last mission and recovery of Big Banner and her crew who had been MIA for 22 years on the following link.

http://www.zzairwar.nl/dossiers/148.html

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the fascinating snapshot of an atypical WW2 military career. It's great that he survived, and would have had a unique insight into army life (both sides) on armistice days.
I'm sure his story is certainly worthy of a longer account, or even a documentary. More should be done to record, and preserve, such stories.
Here's a pic of my late Dad, in 1944. His division (43rd Infantry) was just North of the 'Bulge' in Dec '44., probing the flanks of the Bulge. As a recce unit soldier (armoured cars and Bren Carriers), he would have encountered quite a few StuGs, Tigers and Panthers. Luckily for me- not fatally. In such circumstances, I'm sure khaki was the best colour for battledress trousers


Thanks also to Xioshan, for his own contribution. That generation should never be forgotten. Just look what we have now....

43rdRecceReg wrote:That generation should never be forgotten. Just look what we have now....

So true!

Fascinating story! Thanks for sharing!

Great to read another WW2 story, strange that your Recce father may have encountered mine. Mine was in the Bulge a bit. Someone commented earlier that he was lucky to be sent back to the Western front, indeed he was, but A. The threat was very great in the West at that time and they needed everybody back there, and B. He may have been returned due to his Shrapnell injury, I don’t know where he was hit tho! I have in his record book a notation that he had received 'Waffenrock' in 44. this is the Full dress uniform that was discontinued in 39, but retained for special parades. He also was issued a peaked cap, almost unheard of for other ranks. So maybe he was on light duty, and assigned ceremonial . Guess I’ll never know.
As has been said, all this will be lost when I go! My kids won’t remember, but it’s so important. Another story not told much was the humble housewife during the Blitz. My late mum lived in SW London throughout the entire blitz. Her story is every bit as important as any serving soldier. Lucky for me I have recorded the blitz stories she told me, hopefully to share one day!
Wasn’t it the NAAFI Moto. 'They also serve who only stand and wait '
W

PS I meant to ask anyone interested, if they can see the likeness in the 2 pictures I posted, the first is definitely my Dad but the second, I can’t be certain, but to me it’s the same man. Eyes, hair, chin. I contacted the author of the book, One of the Men at Arms series, German Army 39 - 45 part 3, Russia, and he is convinced , timevand date right but the Rank is wrong, stole a jacket ? Who knows
W

Winalot wrote:Great to read another WW2 story, strange that your Recce father may have encountered mine. Mine was in the Bulge a bit. Someone commented earlier that he was lucky to be sent back to the Western front, indeed he was, but A. The threat was very great in the West at that time and they needed everybody back there, and B. He may have been returned due to his Shrapnell injury, I don’t know where he was hit tho! I have in his record book a notation that he had received 'Waffenrock' in 44. this is the Full dress uniform that was discontinued in 39, but retained for special parades. He also was issued a peaked cap, almost unheard of for other ranks. So maybe he was on light duty, and assigned ceremonial . Guess I’ll never know.
As has been said, all this will be lost when I go! My kids won’t remember, but it’s so important. Another story not told much was the humble housewife during the Blitz. My late mum lived in SW London throughout the entire blitz. Her story is every bit as important as any serving soldier. Lucky for me I have recorded the blitz stories she told me, hopefully to share one day!
Wasn’t it the NAAFI Moto. 'They also serve who only stand and wait '
W

It crossed my mind that my Dad could have been in a shooting war with yours, in that area of the Ardennes- only to end up, potentially- as a comrade. I have a book on the campaigns of Recce regiments, including my Dad's, plus a partial campaign diary for his unit. His division (43rd Infantry )was part of XXX Corps, within Montgomery's 21st Army group. the order of battle for the Bulge is here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of ... _of_battle
Although my Dad's regiment was part of an Infantry Division, it was actually an armoured unit- ultimately part of the Royal Armoured Corps.
I've tried to pass what I know on to my children and grandchildren, and also took them to the Somme back in the 1980s to show them where my Grandfather and his brothers had been in WW1.(Two of them died in the War) So, it's important to pass these stories on to your children. They need to know what real adversity is.
While your Mum was keeping her stoic chin up, whilst being bombed in London, My Mum was being bombed on a regular basis in Glasgow (then the second city of Empire).

Hi
Well your mum would have had another tale or 2, Glasgow was hit badly I think. My mum once described her worst night ever, but I can leave that for another time.
Your Dad may well have been shooting at mine, there’s no recrimination is there, they did what the had to do. If your Dad had said no, it would have been prison, coal mine or worse! Mine would certainly have been shot! But in any case, my Dad came from Silisia, which before WW1 had been part of Germany, my oldest aunty born in about 1912 or before, only spoke German, so, probably not as big a deal as other invaded places. In fact in most places I’ve been to in Poland, the Germans behaved better than the Russians.
At least my son is very interested and I hope, taking notes.
Got to be done, my parents are both gone and I can’t ask anyone any more.
Regards and thanks for sharing.
W